XCOM: Free as Bird
by MercBoss
Summary: A simple recon mission for XCOM operative Faith Connors
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Faith knelt down, her eyes scanned from the top of the building. She heard the unmistakable jabbering of ADVENT soldiers. Too many to fight on her own, unfortunately. Besides, her job wasn't to fight, it was to get intelligence and Central wanted this mission done quietly. She wasn't the "Stalker of the Shadows" like Outrider, nor was she a "Battlelord" like Mox. No, she was just another orphan girl whom Bradford decided to take in. But, this orphan was the best infiltraitor in the Resistance, no matter what that smug jerk Volk thought.

A crackle over her radio soon gave way to the aged voice of Bradford. "Black Cat come in, what's your status? Over" He knew damn well what her status was. It was just his not so sublte way of telling her to quit wasting time. Faith sighed and scoped her target. A black and red armored train sat in front of large wherehouse, loaded with equipment for ADVENT's troops in the feild. As much as she agreed with Elena they should just bomb the whole train and facility, The Commander made it clear they wanted everything in tact, so they could ambush the train and steal the supplies when it was more vulnerable and raid the wherehouse when they needed a quick supply grab.

She slid down a convient drainpipe and hid behind a rock. She wasn't religious, but she prayed to whatever deity was out there for the patroling soldiers to head in the other direction. She pulled out her camera and zoomed in on the train. two menacing, blac, mag turrets lazily scanned, looking for something to kill. She focused in and snapped. Slowly, silently, crawling on her belly, she moved up to the front of the train. Satisfied, she took another photo for Lily and Tygan to analyse.

Creeping around to her right, she saw the container yard. An Archon and two Sectoids watched the facility with rapt attention. She felt a growing lump in the pit of her stomach. She'd heard rumors that sectoids could read people's minds. If that were true, it could detect her psionically. And if the archon decided to take off, it could spot her from the air. She focused on her breathing and zoomed in. *Snap* So far, so good. But she needed new cover.

Running over to a a stand of trees, she quickly ducked under them. Luckily, the three stooges were unaware of her presence still. Letting out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding in, she heard footsteps approaching. Two Stun Lancers and an Officer were coming towards her. Slightly panicked, her mind raced, trying to decied how to avoid becoming an ADVENT Burger.

There wasn't any decent cover between her and the patrol. As risky as it was, She would have to run towards the container yard and take cover behind, some crates. Her heart raced as she dashed towards the container yard. Her speed and agility honed after years of growing up in a slum, having to steal to survive. She vaulted over the glowing security fence surrounding the facility. A quick roll to soften her landing. The patrol was still coming and she had to find cover. Manteling a stack of crates, she pulled her self up and hid behind one of the stacks. Smiling to herself and taking a precious moment to steady her nerves, she preped her camera and the patrol passed with only an intel photo to document how close she'd come to failing her mission.

Behind her, she heard the unmistakable hiss of a Viper. The reptilian alien would be a problem, as they were bread to detect the body heat of a certain black haired, tatooed, XCOM spy. She again prayed that the surrounding crates were insulated. Her luck held yet again as the snake slithered away as she got a quick snap of its tail. The only thing now was to get inside the cavernous wherehouse. Its bay doors open like a dragon's maw.


	2. Chapter 2

Her adventure with the Viper finished, Faith turned towards the large, carbon alloy, building in front of her. Out of the corner of her eye, a sinister looking, black and red heavy turret stood guard from the depot's roof. If she was spotted, it would make quick work of her. She pulled out her recon camera and shakily took a photo.

In the opposite direction, a large drain pipe provided access to her next objective. Her small body shimmying up the pipe, Faith managed to reach the depot's roof without being detected. Taking a precious moment to catch her breath again, she raised her camera. Another recon photo for "Middle Officer Standford" and the rest of the command staff to review. She moved slowly and hesitantly towards the roof access door. She needed to get inside the facility without being detected. "Easier said than done." she thought. Usually, when she was with Aquila Squad, Tavish would just blow a hole in the wall with one of his demo charges. No, she would have to pick the lock to the roof access door.

Growing up as a poor orphan in some backwater haven ment Faith had many opportunities to hone her skills for getting into places that she shouldn't. It was part of the reason Central took her in and recruited her. After fiddling with it, the lock slide open. She smiled internally and like her callsign, slowly and silently crept inside.


End file.
